Can a company from PoCo change the world?
SHARC Energy Systems is betting on itself. Welcome to our Weekly Briefing.
Good morning! While Will is away sipping margaritas poolside, I’m… well, I was going to say I’m slugging it out in this horrid rain, but it’s actually nice right now and promises to stay that way for most of the weekend. And then it gets bad again right in time for Will’s return. Perfect.
Now onto something that is hopefully also that—today’s newsletter. It’s 755 words, a 4-minute read. Enjoy!
SHARC Energy Systems is finding a way to heat buildings with wastewater
The Port Coquitlam company says it has the best sewage filtration system in the world. » Start reading.
“Don’t have your Range Rover on your balance sheet” and three other lessons from TechExit.io
The Vancouver Convention Centre played host to the west coast version of everyone’s M&A conference. » Start reading.
Where do gamers go when they’re in a slump? Insights.gg
The Vancouver-based esports startup is celebrating the millionth download of its training technology for gamers app. » Start reading.
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🤝 Funding and deals
WonderFi, a Vancouver-based decentralized finance startup, acquired Toronto’s Coinberry, a crypto trading platform, for approximately CAD $38.5 million in WonderFi stock. » Betakit.
Accelerate Okanagan and Prospera Credit Union partnered to establish the Level Up Local grant, with funding in place to assist SMBs in the Okanagan Valley with digital adoption. » Continue.
Dapper Labs participated in a USD $50 million raise for Flipside Crypto, a cryptocurrency analytics firm. » Continue.
Dapper, which must have been all hyped up on Easter chocolate, then participated in L.A.-based music tech startup Trac’s pre-seed round. Co-founder Roham Gharegozlou also participated in an angel capacity. » Continue.
Vistara Growth, a Vancouver-based equity financing firm, supported a CAD $30 million growth investment in Reach, a Calgary-based e-commerce company. » Continue.
Digital Technology Supercluster announced an investment to increase the effectiveness of precision oncology. » Continue.
Vancouver-based technology evaluation platform Olive announced a $3 million seed round as it expands into the U.S. with a Chicago office. » Continue.
East Side Games announced a partnership with Netflix for a Dragon Up mobile game that will be available for play exclusively on Netflix this May. » Continue.
🗞️ In other news…
New Ventures BC announced the 201 startups that advanced to Round 2 of the 22nd Annual New Ventures BC Competition. » Continue.
Deloitte, which is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the program, opened applications for Canada's Technology Fast 50™. » Continue.
Lululemon signed a NIL agreement with NBA star turned collegiate golfer J.R. Smith. » Front Office Sports.
Local online sales platform Autozen is seeing stock on its marketplace double month-to-month. » BIV.
Also on the EV front, Port Coquitlam-based cleantech company Moment Energy is teaming up with a quartet of Ontario organizations on a pilot project to support demand. » Continue.
U.S. venture capital is pouring into Canadian enterprise tech startups like Vancouver’s Trulioo. » The Wall Street Journal.
Long-time Colliers exec Matt Carlson has the firm to head up digital-first commercial real estate brokerage Floorspace. » Techcouver.
New network of high-tech, low-emission buses dominate Translink priorities for the next decade. » Vancouver Sun.
B.C. venture funding has had a strong start to 2022, but are later-stage companies raising at yesterday’s prices? » Betakit.
5 questions with GVBOT head Bridgitte Anderson. » BCBusiness.
The dinner plate of the future is made in Canada. » Continue.
Bulletin Board: Meet Daanaa Resolution Inc., the only chip-based technology that allows energy to be transferred freely, safely, and efficiently. » Continue.
💡 Ideas and insights
Our own James Matthews on CKNW waxing poetic about the importance of protecting and investing in Vancouver’s tech sector.
Chris Neumann, partner at Panache, writing on his personal blog about why Canadian VCs need to get out of Canada.
Martin Smiljanic, co-founder and CEO of Omnisearch, on the latest episode of Code Story: Bonus: Martin Smiljanic
Alex Cohen, senior director of product at Carbon Health, on Twitter: Is pet insurance the way to keep millennials happy?
Roger Patterson, CEO of Later, writing in Worth: The Great Upgrade: Why Outlandish Perks Aren’t Fixing The Talent Crisis.